The present invention relates to a water activity toy, particularly a toy with a water flow pathway, and more particularly to a paddle wheel for moving a stream of water through a water pathway of the toy.
To move a water stream along a pathway, the activity toy may include a paddle wheel which pushes the water. A floating vessel, like a boat, may be moved by the stream generated by the paddle wheel.
The pathway of the stream is defined by a water container that defines a channel through which the water stream is to be pushed. In a typical water activity toy, the container defines an endless loop channel along a perhaps circular, oval or otherwise interestingly shaped path.
The paddle wheel typically includes several blades supported on an axle which rotates the blades through and along the channel to push the water stream. The axle may be supported on opposite sides of the channel. Paddle wheel rotation means, for example, a manually operable crank, is connected with the axle.
The paddle wheel blades, and perhaps the entire paddle wheel, extend far enough down into the channel to serve as an obstacle to the movement of a floating vessel past the wheel. Possibilities for avoiding interference with the vessel moving along the channel past the paddle wheel are to raise the wheel and blades out of the channel while the vessel floats past, possibly moved by the force of the moving stream or because it is pushed, and/or to shape the paddle wheel or its blades so that the paddle wheel will not interfere with passage of the vessel.
In one existing paddle wheel design, the paddle wheel is supported at supports at both sides of the channel, and is swingably supported at one side of the channel so that the paddle wheel can be tilted up out of the channel e.g. to permit a floating vessel to pass. To reduce the extent to which the paddle wheel must be tilted and to minimize interference with the vessel, the blades may be arrayed non-uniformly spaced around the paddle wheel, leaving a large gap angular space around the paddle wheel which can be positioned over the channel when the vessel moves past and reducing the bulk of the paddle wheel which might interfere with passage of the boat. However, the known paddle wheel still interferes with a vessel moving along the channel and additionally is complicated for a young child, for whom the invention is particularly adapted, to operate.